Hermann Nitsch - Orgien Mysterien Theater - 25. Aktion. Re-performance of 25. Action, March 1982 in the gallery Pakesch, Vienna. The premiere was in New York, in 1968. Hermann Nitsch, an Austrian painter, performance-artist and composer, was a crucial founding artist of "Viennese Actionism". He has held exhibitions and performed all over the world since the '60s. The idea of the very sensual and archaic Orgien Mysterien Theater was developed in the late '50s and has been performed in variations to this day. For this piece, Nitsch works out all settings of the rituals, the feast in great detail, precisely composes days of art, performance, food, wine and music, to celebrate the existence of mankind...

Recording of Hermann Nitsch's pipe organ concert, Berlin, January 22, 2016. "Hermann Nitsch is looked upon as the true successor the great masters of symphony: Beethoven, Bruckner and Mahler. He draws from Scriabin's, Schoenberg's and Webern's experience, however comes up with different conclusions than their (sanctioned) successors. That is to say: Nitsch disregards Webern's analysis of music. Unlike others he does not attempt to advance atonal music with methods that should be handed over to science and technical realms (e.g. Stockhausen). Nitsch ignores any attempt to investigate the core of the construction of Webern's music. He does know it well though and starts where others don't react at all; at lust, rot (disintegration) and death, poison and madness, fragrance and temperature, the fluid, the excess. To him the intricate structure of a symphony is not accidental play with traditional forms, its necessity. A symphony is s-o-u-n-d (and complete). Nitsch draws material from a number of epochs, mostly though from late romanticism and expressionism. Unlike those who don't want to let go of the past, Nitsch uses materials that pertain to today's interests rather than adhering to structures established before. Theater and music cannot be left in the hands of specialists only. A new generation has to grow. Nothing is gained by performances of some puny imbeciles. These warmed-up-versions of Dadaistic rage are no good if the goal is to leave the current stagnation in theater and music behind. The staging of a Nitsch performance require something that is completely missing in today's Karajans and Bernsteins: What is called for is rather exact knowledge of where liberation and expansion (really) take place? Few set out to work on Scriabin's fragrance and color prophecies. I see a legitimate expansion of Scriabin's mystery play in Nitsch's symphonic and theatrical work. Nitsch does not make the mistake to turn Scriabin's demands into dogma. He doesn't allow himself (run danger) to separate Scriabin from history like a fatherly patron the way it happened to Webern and his successors (epigons). Nitsch didn't run into Scriabin like a lost son but as somebody who clearly knew his own goals and was capable to integrate Scriabin's visions into his own work." -- Günter Brus, 1969 (translated from the Austrian by Hans J. Schacht) Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi. Full color six-panel digipak. Edition of 300.

2015 release. First release of Hermann Nitsch's Sinfonie Für Mexico City. Recorded February 27, 2015, at the Museo Ex Teresa Arte Actual in Mexico City. Performed by Ensemble [LIMINAR] and students of the Conservatorio Nacional de Música. Conducted by Andrea Cusumano. CD in full-color six-panel DVD-size digipak. Edition of 500.

Restocked. "VOD is very proud and honored to release this excellent minimal and drone recording of Hermann Nitsch performed on the Brucknerorgel linz as well as on the organ at his private castle in Prinzendorf at the Zaya, Austria, both in 1986. The original has been released on Edition Hundertmark in a strictly limited edition (200 copies). An absolutely famous recording.." Packaged in a spectacular wooden box, a la the previous SPK box on VOD.

2006 release. Super deluxe DVD & CD set. The Action art of Hermann Nitsch from past to present Actions, 1962-2003: 1 DVD (this DVD is in European PAL format only and not compatible with some/many DVD players in the US) plus a CD with the recordings from the 2005 Burgtheater performance. Hand-numbered edition of 1000 copies. The packaging consists of a slip lid box with banderole, containing an 80-page book with photos and text. Disputed and celebrated: Hermann Nitsch, Actionist and painter, composer and stage designer. He is one of the most renowned Austrian artists of today and nevertheless still divides the art world as before. Nitsch belongs beside Günter Brus, Otto Mühl and Rudolf Schwarzkogler as one of the most important main actors of Viennese Actionism. At the beginning of the '60s he carried out his first "Actions" in Vienna, which involved several trials and three terms of imprisonment. His main work, "Orgy Mystery Theatre," the bloody, sacrilegious meat-play inspired by Greek mythology, Antonin Artaud and Sigmund Freud, was the defining work of his career, and has established and influenced Actionist performance representations in contemporary art ever since. On this DVD there is a 4-hour overview of all of Nitsch's "Actions" from 1962-2003, as well as an interview from 2005. The 80-page book (German/English) which includes text by Florian Schreiner and numerous photos, explains the theoretical basis of Nitsch's work. On the CD are recordings of the 122nd "Action" at the Burgtheater of Vienna in November of 2005. Package: box/book, 80 pages/DVD/CD; Edition: Limited to 1000 copies, hand-numbered; Content: main feature + interview; Running-time: approx. 4 hours; Audio-Language: German; Subtitles: German/English/French; Format: PAL, 4:3, color; Audio-Format: Stereo (MP2/AC3); Region: 0 (all regions).

Two LPS in 180 Gram Vinyl High Quality Pressing. "'I have one Sinfonie' professed Hermann Nitsch identifying with Bruckner who made a similar claim of his symphonic output. For comparison, La Monte Young has a similar concept, for example, The Tortoise, His Dreams, and Journey's from 1964 -- eternity, with each realization, the piece never ends; it's a continuation. Professionally recorded in 1990 in Vienna and realized by a professional orchestra, the 8th Sinfonie by Hermann Nitsch is a triumphantly charged live performance by Ensemble 20 Jahrhundert, the Hugo Distler Choir, a Blasorchester (Brass Band), and Noise Orchestra.The 8th Sinfonie was produced to commemorate the 62nd Birthday of the Viennese Actionist founder Hermann Nitsch. A limited Artist's edition of 20 in a foil embossed cloth folio with Hermann Nitsch signed original artwork, including 2-LPs and 2-CDRs. This regular 2-LP edition is limited to 185 copies."